Escalating his campaign to remain president of the World Bank, Paul D. Wolfowitz accused the bank’s board on Wednesday of treating him “shabbily and unfairly,” and appealed for more time to defend himself against allegations of favoritism and other matters.
Mr. Wolfowitz, increasingly isolated at the bank and facing a board seemingly determined to force his resignation, sent a letter to the head of a board panel dealing with issues affecting his leadership, asking to appear before the board next week in the interest of “fairness to me” and “good governance” at the bank.
The letter was described by people who had seen it.
Bank officials described many on the 24-member board as having been taken aback by the tough tone of the letter but said the board appeared likely to grant Mr. Wolfowitz at least some of his request, perhaps by allowing him to appear next week, though not necessarily with his newly hired lawyer, Robert S. Bennett....
But the board was described as puzzled and put off by Mr. Wolfowitz’s decision, disclosed this week, to bring in Mr. Bennett, who is known as a litigator but also as someone who can make a deal in situations that seem beyond compromise.
For example, as the lawyer for President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, he got a settlement of a lawsuit charging sexual misconduct brought by Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee.
He also negotiated a deal with a federal prosecutor last year leading to freedom for Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times who was jailed for refusing to testify in the investigation of a leak of the identify of Valerie Plame, a Central Intelligence Agency employee.
A top European official involved in setting bank policy said there could be a deal avoiding a censure of Mr. Wolfowitz but that it had to involve Mr. Wolfowitz leaving the bank.
Related;
World Bank to let Wolfowitz defend himself
World Bank Anti-Graft Group Urges Quick Decision on Wolfowitz ;
In their letter, the members of the Washington-based agency's Governance and Anticorruption Strategy group said the ``credibility of our front-line staff'' had been undermined by the controversy. They asked the board ``to resolve this crisis quickly in a way that demonstrates to all our stakeholders the bank's commitment to the highest standards of integrity."
Wolfowitz Seeks a Bodyguard
Podcast of a discussion about Wolfowitz with Patricia Adams
(Economist and author; Executive Director of Probe International)and Robert Calderisi
(a former senior official at the World Bank for 20 years; author).
Why does not one call it as it is - he isn't fighting for his job, he is fighting for the largest possible severance and golden parachute. That the money was contributed to help the world's poorest people means nothing to Wolfowitz. As ever, it's all about Wolfowitz, and that now means leaving with as much of the World Bank's cash clutched in his slimy little hands as possible.
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